The Hammers have had a horrendous start to the
Premier League season and sit in the relegation zone, with pressure
mounting from the stands as fan bemusement grows
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West Ham’s season is not going to plan. A move to the London Stadium, née Olympic Stadium, was meant to herald a new era of prosperity. A seventh-placed finish last season meant European football was set to come to east London. This time, they were going to take it seriously and, stewarded by the brilliance of the mercurial Dimitri Payet, forge a new history away from Upton Park.
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Yet here we are in October and the Hammers are staring down the barrel of the gun. Payet remains brilliant, but his dazzling footwork has not been able to save Slaven Bilic’s side from some truly atrocious results. With nearly a fifth of the season gone West Ham are 17th and they have won just once, a frankly dire 1-0 victory over Bournemouth in their first Premier League fixture at their new home.
Europe was treated as little more than an afterthought but defeat to Astra Giurgiu in the Europa League qualifiers brought ignominy, and the performance at London Stadium was emblematic of a quite appalling season thus far – West Ham were aimless, muddled, and seemingly without a leader.
Following a 3-0 defeat to Southampton Mark Noble went on the attack, savaging his own side’s performance.
“It can’t get any worse,” was the quote that launched a thousand Twitter predictions, and it is likely to be replayed again and again if it does, indeed, get worse.
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A 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough showed that there is spirit within the squad, but the newly promoted side were sharper on the day, creating chances and toying with their opposition’s defence. They were unfortunate to only take a point.
Thus, with the international break over, West Ham face a crunch set of fixtures. Games against Crystal Palace and Sunderland must be taken advantage of ahead of a nightmare run which will see the Hammers travel to Everton, then host Stoke City before facing Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool on the trot.
If their current form continues then the club will be staring into the abyss, and the 2002-03 season may well be repeated, albeit in far more dramatic fashion.
The season prior, managed by Glenn Roeder, the Hammers finished seventh, above fierce rivals Tottenham, but were shockingly relegated the following campaign, after a horrific run which saw them win just three games from 24
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